Since its inception, radio has consistently proved to be an effective and efficient marketing medium for creating brand awareness. It has helped a variety of companies to grow their businesses in an assortment of many geographical markets. However, for small and mid-sized enterprises, money constraints are forcing them to stick to the radio ads budget.
Some advertisers might be disregarding radio due to the rise of cable, television, and the internet as advertising platforms. But they are wrong to do so. Radio marketing still makes sense due to the broad audience it’s able to capture. People are listening to an excessive amount of radio even if they don’t realize it. Whether they are waking up, commuting, working, showering or even sleeping, it is not uncommon to hear a radio in the background.
Moreover, the growth of podcasts as an alternative source of education and entertainment is increasing this listening trend. Podcasts can package most topics you can think of into brief, downloadable episodes. Therefore, their popularity is growing each day.
If you prefer to watch a video instead, click here:
This post has been updated in August 2021.
Essential Questions to Consider When Creating a Radio Advertisement Budget
For any operating business, advertisements should be part of the sales and marketing efforts. Hence, any money spent on advertising should always be an investment for growing the establishment.
To keep the radio ads budget in line with the marketing goals, kindly answer the following questions:
1. Who are the Targeted Consumers?
Most products and services do not always peak the interests of everybody in the market. Therefore, having an effective marketing strategy is the best way forward.
First, establish the parameters of the target audience. Then, identify their specific demographics. Finally, compose a consumer profile having information about the client’s age, sex, attitude, class, employment status, and consumer habits. You can use the created consumer profile to shape up your advertising message.
2. Between Radio and Podcasts, which is the Best Media for Marketing?
Although radio has been ubiquitous for many decades, the internet is quickly catching up. Therefore, to determine between marketing on a podcast or radio, use the consumer profile data to settle on a choice.
You can also employ the two-advertising medium simultaneously. But when on a tight budget, kindly consider settling on one choice after determining your market campaign goals.
3. Which Kind of Appeals are Best Suited to Convince the Target Consumer to Purchase the product or service?
There are two main ways to appeal to a potential buyer. You can either do it rationally or emotionally. Rationality calls for products and services that provide practical solutions to everyday needs. On the other hand, emotional appeals will apply to satisfy the specific emotions of the buyer.
So, which appeals are most suitable for convincing your targeted consumers?
4. Does the Radio Marketing Campaign Strategy Have an Adequate Return on Investment (ROI)?
Answering this question requires a bit of calculation on your side. How much money are you likely to profit for every dollar spent on radio ads?
By doing the calculation(s) above, marketers will be in a better position to define the market conditions in addition to identifying specific goals for the marketing campaign. Afterward, they can decide on how best to budget and allocate their limited marketing funds.
How to Acquire Radio Advertisements on a Budget
With a recession looming on the horizon, it is crucial not to break the bank in your radio ads budget. Help your enterprise survive this upcoming economic downturn by carefully planning and executing powerful market campaigns. Use as limited, but reasonable, amount of resources as possible.
Here is how to create a radio ads budget:
1. Ensure Every Word in your Advert Counts
The 21st century is proving to be quite a fast-paced environment. Even though technology continues to make the accomplishment of some tasks more manageable, it is causing the human race to roller-coast their everyday activities to match the pace. Hence, people are finding themselves constrained by time to achieve specific tasks.
Worse still, the rapid advancement of technology is continually reducing the attention span of the masses. That’s why most commercial ads never tend to pass the three-minute mark. With such a limited time-frame, marketers need to tweak their commercial messages in a quick, precise manner.
A standard-length advert, which is 60 seconds long, typically has 150 words. Therefore, for a business operating on a tight radio ad budget, every word should count.
When creating an advertisement, you should avoid including your contact information in the commercial script. Although such information is beneficial, it will only be taking up valuable space. Besides, about 90% of the radio audience tends to forget the contacts five seconds after hearing it.
Click here to learn more about crafting a useful radio commercial script.
2. Invest in Short Length Commercials
In line with the attention span issue, investing in even briefer length commercials can be a discounted option. Classically, the pricing of radio ads depends on their length in addition to other factors. The shorter the advert, the cheaper its airing price. Buying a 10-second or 15-second ad will thus cost about a quarter of the price for a standard-length advert.
Employ the services of a skilled copywriter to help you craft an effectively communicated market objective within such limited time frames. Still, you can create three additional commercials to extend your campaign strategies while confining to the same budget parameters.
3. Avoid Advertising on Prime Time when on a Limited Radio Ad Budget
Unless you are sure that the ROI of your radio advert is worth it, please avoid subscribing your radio ads to prime times of the day. Radio stations recognize prime times to be from 6:00 AM to 7:00 PM on Mondays through Friday and 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Saturdays. Most stations tend to charge a premium advertising rate during such times.
However, as a budget-conscious marketer, don’t despair. An estimated 80% of the prime-time listeners will still tune in to radio outside such times. Even better, advertising during the non-prime periods will only cost you about 20% of the prime-time cost. Therefore, for 20% of the price, you’ll be reaching about 80% of the prime-time listeners.
4. Schedule your Radio Ads to be Airing During Off-Peak Seasons during Each Year
Advertising during off-peak seasons can also be beneficial to budget-conscious advertisers. During such periods, the demand for marketing will likely drop, leading to a reduction in advertising costs. One such period usually occurs between mid-January to early February across major world markets.
Consequently, radio stations will offer attractive ad packages and rates during off-peak periods. The prices can even be more than half the regular rates.
Do not overlook such periods as being unproductive business periods. Advertising during these off-peak times will still be consistent with your overall marketing objectives.
5. Capitalize on Quality, not Quantity
When it comes to managing advertising costs, utilizing quality avenues will always be better than those offering quantity listener numbers.
Do not just place your ads on a radio station having a large number of listeners. Look for a station offering you a high concentration of potential customers. Because you’ll be paying for an entire station’s audience, it’s only right to pay for quality rather than quantity.
For example, suppose your target consumers are cab drivers. You are to choose between two radio stations, B and D, for your marketing campaign. Station B has 100,000 listeners of which 20,000 are cab drivers, translating to 20%. In contrast, station D has 60,000 with 15,000 of them, 25%, being cab drivers. So, between B and D, which radio station should you choose?
For the budget-minded marketer, the best choice would be D. This choice presents the advertiser with a higher chance of reaching their target market more effectively for a smaller cost than they would on station B.
The term used for such calculations is known as Indexing.
Therefore, remember to conduct efficient research about the quality of a radio station’s audience before settling on one.
6. Create an Achievable Marketing Objective
It is good to have grandeur dreams in business. Nevertheless, it is foolish to set unachievable goals in your advertising campaign. Hence, the best marketing campaign should compose of attainable objectives set to specific time frames.
Final Tips on Developing a Sustainable Radio Ad budget
In addition to the information above on how to acquire radio ads on a budget, here a few more tips to aid in your marketing campaign:
1. Radio Aids in Driving Results for Other Channels
Radio serves as a reminder medium and a vast mass reach. Thus, even if it is not your primary focus, broadcast communication can be a crucial piece of an integrated campaign. If done diligently, radio advertising can impact significant results on the campaign ROI.
2. Use Your Radio Adverting Budget to Determine Your Investment
In these stringent economic terms, it is advisable to base decisions about the marketing campaign on a predetermined budget. If you choose to ignore this and decide to run a radio campaign without a clearly defined budget, you will likely over-spend. Worse still, you shall be having constant doubts about the campaign results.
3. What You Pay for is What You’ll Get
Each Radio station charges vary differently for radio ads. So, it is good to ask some questions before settling on your preferred choice.
Furthermore, go through their policies thoroughly. Settle for a station that has beneficial guidelines for you and your listeners alike.
In conclusion
Over the years, radio has been a handy marketing tool. It has been a local medium, serving mostly a specific geographical location. Hence, marketers can market their services and products in their locality. Additionally, more than two-thirds of the weekly radio listeners tend to be working people.
Take advantage of this lucrative advertising avenue and see your business rise to new profit heights!
Create the right audio ad today with Bunny Studio!
